drink the milk, read the books

Talent alone cannot make a writer. There must be a man behind the book.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

...or woman, there could one of those there, too.

If you remember, this past February, I won 2nd place in the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge 2008, and as a result of that, a friend of mine from our writing group gave me a Barnes & Noble gift card as a literary congratulations. Armed with this, and the desire to go spend a couple of hours in a bookstore, Alex and I went to Barnes & Noble in search of something worthy of the card.

That was exactly 2 weeks ago, and I haven't stopped talking about Fablehaven since.

I first picked up the book because it was at the top of the escalators, spread out on a table, next to a poster announcing an upcoming book signing with the author, Brandon Mull. To be honest, I hadn't heard of it, and when I saw that it was a New York Times bestseller, I couldn't help but wonder if that's just a generic term they're giving books these days because every cover seems to be sporting it. I picked up the book, looked at the front, turned it around, read the back, was intrigued, turned it around again, still intrigued, went to a chair, sat down to read it, and right before they kicked us out, promptly purchased it with my gift card.

Now, this is the first children's fantasy-esque book I've read since my little sister got me Coraline for Christmas, during that period in my life when Neil Gaiman's name was following me around (search the blog, find my post about it). Which is interesting, as you and I both know, because of my field of writing, I should be reading more books altogether, but I've been a little tied up with required graduate school readings.

And after all, I have been trying to revise my own novel, so I have understandably not been able to peruse the bookstore too often these past few months.

But then comes along Fablehaven, a book I bought without hesitating to look for it first at the library or putting it back on the shelf in favor of getting it for less on Amazon. A series I had never heard of before, yet that very night, I resolved to be there to hear the author speak on Thursday, April 3 - last night.

Long story short, the first book was fantastic. The second book, I purchased last Friday. Basic plot, as follows: At first reluctantly, two children stay with their grandparents in Connecticut for a few weeks while their parents go on a family cruise. In time, they come to discover that there grandfather is the caretaker of a preserve of mystical creatures known as Fablehaven. And that's when everything starts to go awry.

The concept, the characters, the dialogue, the conflict, the decriptions, the stories, the humor, the suspense - ugh, all horribly wonderful. While reading the first book, I realized as a writer now fully invested in one novel (with all those others in bits and pieces, officially rooting, if they could, for my first one), that I'm having difficulty just enjoying great writing. But this has always been the case, to a degree. I find myself, in every well-placed word and clever twist in the plot, mumbling about how brilliant it all is, annoyingly brilliant, as I struggle to get the courage to sit down and revise my own Chapter 2.

Revise Chapter 2? I'm already on Book 2 in my head!! All my life, I've written the best stories in my head, the most involved and entertaining, where I can easily skip over those pesky plot holes that are glaringly apparent when you've stumbled over them on a computer screen at 2 AM.

Alex rightly pointed out that for the past two weeks, the reason Chapter 2 has evaded me might very well be " the denizens of Phibblehaffen" (I've said the name so often, he has now made for it his own spelling and pronunciation).

And I think he's right. Every time I've gone to write, I've ended up reading! Turning page after miserable page of wonderfully fantastic prose!

But no matter, if I finish Fablehaven II: Rise of the Evening Star in the next few days, giving me a whole month before Book III comes out - Grip of the Shadow Plague.

Oh, and as for that book signing last night? I was really looking forward to hearing Brandon Mull speak about his experiences writing the series and his life as a writer. We are, after all, in the same profession. As fate would have it, little sister Soraya had her medical PowerPoint presentation that evening at school (an excellent one on bulimia nervosa), and as much as I've grown to love Fablehaven, I wasn't about to miss her big night.

So, by some miracle, I convinced Olga and Kenny to go for me, although truth be told, I think we were all a little surprised about how adamant I was about getting someone to go see this author I had only first heard about two weeks ago. A flat tire almost derailed them, but again, things worked out, and armed with my two books (notice how we always go to Barnes & Noble "armed" with something), they went to hear Brandon Mull speak for me. I prayed they would have a good time and come back with good things to say about the author...

Well, they came back alright, with signed books, posters, a t-shirt, and the good news that the author was as much a nice guy and well-spoken writer as I thought he would be =)

Just great - a great writer, a really nice guy, and a third book on the way.

Ugh, Grip of the Shadow Plague, here I come, ever so reluctantly...in that eager kind of way.